Hard ass skeptics are often accused of being sour, bitter, judgmental know-it-alls by the usual crew of credulous buffoons. Cry me a river people! No matter how many idiotic ghost hunting shows you put on the history channel you are never going to convince a hard ass skeptic that ghosts exist. Just so we can all get along I am going to disclose how you can win an argument with a hard ass skeptic.

The key to marketing ideas to hard ass skeptics is to understand what hard ass skeptics consider valid arguments. Hard ass skeptics will consider only two types of arguments:

Mathematical proof

Hard science

If you cannot couch your argument in these terms just shut the fuck up. You are wasting your breath and the hard ass skeptic’s time.

I know this is harsh but it gets worse. Mathematicians and scientists make mistakes: lots and lots of mistakes. How does the hard ass skeptic deal with this inconvenient truth? The typical hard ass skeptic simply doesn’t have enough time, skill or expertise to filter the rubbish from the rubies. So the hard ass skeptic assumes it’s all crap until there is verified overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

Finally, hard ass skeptics put the burden of proof on a supposition’s supporters. It’s not the hard ass skeptic’s job to prove you are wrong. It’s your job to prove, beyond any reasonable mathematical or scientific doubt, you are correct. So please stop whining about how we haven’t proved that psychics, Yetis or Heaven do not exist. It’s not our job and it never will be.